Hi there,

I was hoping someone could help me?

I've doing some searching online to find the Irish Gaelic translation for, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".

Most results lead to this translation - "An rud nach maraíonn thú, neartaíonn sé thú".

However, an Irish work colleague insists the most natural translation is, as it would be said in spoken Irish Gaelic - "Neartaíonn sin nach maraíonn". Which translates to in English as, "What does not kill, strengthens".

Can someone please confirm (or deny) that, Neartaíonn sin nach maraíonn, does indeed mean this?

Thank you

I'm far from being a native speaker but I'd say the first sounds more natural.
And it makes more sense: The payoff (making stronger) should be last.

I don't think it's good Irish. I'm not a native speaker either, and I've read far less Irish than I ought to have, but that 'sin nach' looks strange and wrong to me - certainly not more natural.

It looks to me like a literal translation of 'that which' (='what') + negative verb. There are several
proverbs in Irish which follow that pattern, and all of them have 'an rud nach'.

How good an Irish speaker does your colleague claim to be?

Some alternatives (the second you gave is a no, but the first is fine):

Mura mbíonn tú maraithe, bíonn tú neartaithe

Mura maraítear, neartaítear
Mura maraítear thú, neartaítear thú

Mura mbuadh ort, buadh leat

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